Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation, sixteen have issued a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $100.90.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $87.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, April 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $104.00 target price on the stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, EVP Brian Birchler sold 973 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction of $73,013.92. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 67,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,065,200. This represents a 1.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, EVP Eugene Schneider sold 5,812 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.97, for a total transaction of $412,477.64. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 63,890 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,534,273.30. This represents a 8.34% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 616,371 shares of company stock worth $46,406,452. 2.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Groupama Asset Managment grew its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 824,540 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,915,000 after buying an additional 57,651 shares during the last quarter. Stempoint Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,981,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter valued at about $5,134,000. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 9.0% during the 1st quarter. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC now owns 160,338 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,040,000 after buying an additional 13,208 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 57.8% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,794 shares of the company’s stock valued at $135,000 after buying an additional 657 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $76.49 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $12.64 billion, a PE ratio of -36.95 and a beta of 0.38. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $74.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $77.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75, a quick ratio of 4.09 and a current ratio of 4.10. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $32.00 and a 1 year high of $86.74.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.85) by $0.29. The business had revenue of $246.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $195.57 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 30.91% and a negative return on equity of 58.65%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 86.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.93) EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of RNA-targeted therapies designed to modulate gene expression. The company’s proprietary antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) technology enables the selective binding of short synthetic strands of nucleic acids to messenger RNA (mRNA), thereby inhibiting or altering the production of disease-causing proteins. Ionis’ pipeline spans a range of therapeutic areas, including neurological disorders, cardiovascular conditions, metabolic diseases and rare genetic disorders.

Since its founding in 1989 by Dr.